Puer Ferri
by sentientmango
Summary: Post-Iron Man 3 and Avengers 1. Pepper and Tony are unexpectedly pregnant, but something is not right. Tony and Bruce must work together to protect Pepper and the baby so that nefarious actors won't discover the truth. What happens when S.H.I.E.L.D. and Ten Rings learns of this miraculous and unearthly child? In-progress
1. Chapter 1

"This isn't fair," Pepper wailed, scrunching her eyes tightly as another stream erupted from her mouth. "We ate the same thing. How are you not sick?"

Tony rubbed her back tenderly with one hand while the other held back a ponytail-full of her strawberry blonde hair. "Honey, I'm Iron Man," he teased. "Which means I have an iron stomach."

"I'm never—" her shoulders hunched and another urgent, loud groan erupted and she dropped her face deeper in the toilet "—eating ahi tuna _again_!"

Tony winced and looked away as she coated the inside of the bowl. "If you don't stop this soon, I may be making the same offering to the porcelain god with you." She only whimpered in response. "Ooh my God, there are _so _many colors! Are you going to be okay?"

"I'll be fine." Her tired words echoed and she feebly reached up to flush. She spat a couple of times and woozily stood up, using Tony's arm to brace herself. "I just need some water. And some Tums. And an industrial power washer to clean this taste from my mouth."

"You need bed," he ordered. "Bed and electrolytes and food that is far removed from anything fishy."

"No," she gulped, shaking her head firmly. Her face was pale with sweat streaking her forehead. "We have the meeting today with-with—" Her eyebrows crinkled as she tried to recall which important executive they were meeting but she couldn't summon the name.

"Bob? Jim? Jim-Bob?" he suggested, teasingly. "Nope. No can do, Potts. As your boss and three persons removed from signing your paycheck, I am ordering you to stay in and recuperate. The last thing I need is for you to show the President of Whatever-It's-Called the color of your bile."

"No," she protested again, weakly, as Tony pushed her out of the bathroom and to their shared master bedroom. "I need to be there."

"Yes, you do," Tony agreed. "I need you with me, all the time, especially with these meetings." He nudged her into the bed and she hardly resisted, flopping back onto the mattress. "But, I can still manage it today. I can fly solo now and then. Trust me." He tugged the blanket over her and kissed her tenderly on the forehead. "Jarvis will be watching. I'm literally in the same building, in the tenth-floor conference room. I'll be back before you know it."

"Uh-kay," she moaned through unmoving lips. Her eyes were half-lidded but those beautiful blue orbs were unfocused and lazy. "Can you… water?"

"Of course." He kissed her again, pressing his lips to her cool and clammy skin, not wanting to leave her if only a moment. He hurried to the kitchen to grab her a couple bottles of water, some Tums, ibuprofen, and crackers. By the time he returned, she was asleep, snoring lightly, and with her eyebrows knitted in pain. He quietly tiptoed away, and on second thought, grabbed the trash can from the bathroom to leave at her bedside just in case. He spun on his toes again, took a roll of toilet paper, and left that on the nightstand.

"Be back soon," he whispered to the darkness.

###

The meeting was not as intense or worrisome as Pepper presumed. Tony was one of many high-level executives representing Stark Industries in a division he didn't really pay much attention to, but it was always good for him to make an appearance whenever a Fortune 500 company flitted through headquarters. He hummed and nodded in appropriate places, focused more on texting Jarvis for updates.

\- _She up?_

\- _Ms. Potts is still asleep._

\- _How's her vitals?_

\- _Her heartrate remains elevated at 75 BPM, which is higher than her typical resting average of 56 BPM._

\- _Fever?_

\- _A slight fever._

\- _Contact the restaurant we went to last night and let them know about her food poisoning._

\- _Certainly, sir._

The dog and pony show lasted another hour, Tony endured the customary handshakes and the same, insufferable jokes about Iron Man, and after he promised to review this and that proposal, he took the limited-access elevator up Stark tower to his and Pepper's floor.

He was surprised to find Pepper in the kitchen, flipping through a magazine, and nibbling on… _Doritos_?

"Who are you and what have you done with my Pepper?" Tony accused.

"Hmm?" she chirped, looking up with a cheesy fingertip between her lips.

"Since when do you, Pepper Potts, health guru, eat Doritos?"

She shrugged. "After I puked out half my body weight, the only thing that sounded appetizing were Doritos."

Tony tossed his jacket on the counter and strode to her side. He pressed his hands to her cheek and her forehead. "Are you still feeling sick? You're warm. Are you feeling warm? Are you feverish? Is this a fever dream? Potts, wake up! Step away from the highly processed and oversalted snack foods!"

"Stop!" she laughed, slapping her hand against his chest. It hit the still-tender skin that had been stretched across the chasm the arc reactor left. "I'm fine. I napped it off. Must have been a short-lived bug of sorts."

"Hmm," Tony murmured, nuzzling his nose in her hair. "You're still warm to the touch. Drink some more fluids. And promise me you'll get looked at if you're not better by tomorrow morning."

"Mm-hmm," she said, noncommittedly as she continued to peruse her trashy magazine. "Hey, look! Apparently, Cap has been seen on the streets with Lady Gaga." She pointed to an obviously Photoshopped image of Steve Rogers and the ubiquitous singer strutting down some street in Los Angeles. "Oh, wow! That's _terrible!_" she laughed. "I need to text this to him. He finally got a _real _phone right? Where's mine?" She spun around and jumped off the stool and immediately sank to her knees.

"Pepper!" Tony reached down to catch her before she could topple over entirely.

"Whoa," she gasped, her head lolling drunkenly. "I just – wow, I'm dizzy." She gripped her hands on Tony's forearms, trying to pushing herself up to a standing position, and her eyes rolled back. Tony caught her mercifully in time before her head could crack on the marble tile. The last thing she heard was Tony's panicked voice pleading out to Jarvis.


	2. Chapter 2

It was the persistent and piercing beeping that penetrated her dream. It was a terrible dream, where she was reaching for Tony and reaching for his glowing arc reactor, but she kept falling, falling, falling. She tasted blood and felt like she was aflame. The reactor exploded. There was fire everywhere and Tony screaming her name. The further she fell, the louder his desperate voice grew.

The beeping quickened and soon that's all she could hear – the shrill, loud, horrible beeping, bouncing around the insides of her skull until she couldn't take it any longer and she screamed.

"Hey, whoa! Whoa!" A familiar voice, not Tony. It broke through the cacophony which mercifully quieted almost immediately. "Pep, it's me. It's Bruce."

The world fluttered into view – a horrid, bright, harsh light and it framed the messy halo of his untamed salt-and-pepper hair. His silver-framed glasses slid to the tip of his nose as his keen doctor's eyes studied her. "Pep, you feeling alright?"

She squinted and held a hand up to shadow the bright light above her. Her hand felt like it weighed twice as much and she saw there was a little cotton ball with a dot of red taped to the inside of her elbow. She managed to glimpse around and realized they were in the private medical suite off of Tony's workshop.

"What happened?" She tried to sit up but Bruce gently pressed her down, cradling her head. "How long was I out?" She struggled to look at her watch and the numbers swam, but she could make out it was 5? Maybe 6? She'd been unconscious at least a couple of hours.

"No-no-no-no," he said in that nervous stutter when something was going wrong. "Keep down. Prone is best." He reached up to swivel the light away so it wasn't blinding her as much.

She moaned and rolled her head to the side where she saw Tony. He was watching her cautiously, a curled fist pressed to his mouth and he had on that face he wore whenever analyzing a very difficult and challenging problem. She didn't like how he was looking at her like she was an experiment.

"What's wrong?" she asked, and he shook his head, which only made her worry more. The softened beeping of the heart monitor leapt.

"Jeez—Jesus, Tony!" Bruce scolded, irritably. "You really need to work on your bedside manner."

"What's going on?" Pepper demanded with as much authority and ferocity as she could muster. But her fright seized her throat and the words came out stilted and choked. "Is it a tumor? Do I have cancer? What's happened?"

"Hey, no, no, none of that," Bruce said, soothingly. He swept a lock of hair that was stuck to her cheek with a quick and tender movement. "It's not that, no. We're just… we're not completely, one hundred percent sure. But we have a pretty good idea."

"What is it?"

Tony exhaled a shuddering sigh and dropped down on a low, wheeled stool. He circled around on his stool in that nervous tic way of his. "Banner?" he murmured into his fingers.

"Well, ahh—" Bruce shot an annoyed look at Tony. "See, Pepper, it's kind of a—uhm, how do I say?"

"Just spit it out!" Pepper cried.

"You're, ah, you're pregnant, Pepper."

The words hit her so hard, she flinched. What Bruce said didn't entirely process. "What did you say?"

"You're pregnant. We drew your blood. Ran it. Jarvis confirmed."

"Jarvis?" she asked in a low voice.

"_It is true, Ms. Potts_."

She turned back to face Tony, to seek his approval or some sort of reaction, but he was just scooting side-to-side in his seat, the serious look still chiseled in his face and the fist still pressed to his mouth, staring at her, unblinking.

"Tell me what's wrong," she whispered, her vision wobbling as the tears prickled. What should have been something wonderful became painfully obvious that it was not a joyous moment.

"It's.. here, _we_ will show you." Bruce shot another hard look at Tony then reached over and raised the head of the bed so Pepper could sit up. The sudden change in altitude made her instantly nauseated but Bruce was already holding a receptacle, ready for her. Before she could stop herself, Pepper leaned to the side and vomited into the can. The sour smell of half-digested Doritos filled her nose and she moaned, pitifully. Her body ached like never before.

Bruce rubbed her back and handed her a damp cloth. She wiped her face and mouth, scrubbing at the bits that clung to her dry lips.

"What is wrong, Tony?" she said in a hoarse voice. "Why do you keep looking at me like that?"

His head shook sharply. "My fault," he mumbled into his fist. "It's my fault."

"I don't understand," she said. A loud clattering startled hurt as Bruce dragged a small cart over to her bedside.

"Here—let me – may I?" Bruce's hands froze in the air, afraid to touch her without permission. Pepper nodded weakly. Bruce carefully pulled the blanket back, tucked it around her waist, then lifted her shirt. He applied a sheen of a cool, clear jelly on her lower abdomen. He pulled the cart closer, pulled out a wand tethered to a machine by a coiled cable, and pressed it onto the flat plane of her belly.

Instantly, a frenetic, warbling noise emanated from the machine and a throbbing black-and-white image projected on the screen, changing a bit every time Bruce moved the wand.

"When, ah, was the first day of your last cycle?"

"Three weeks ago, like I told you," Tony said.

"I need the _patient_ to confirm," Bruce reminded him. "Pep?"

She only nodded. "Yes. It was the first of the month. Like clockwork."

"I know because I find an uptick in the amount of Dove mini chocolate wrappers I find in the trash," Tony continued, a tiny half-smile teasing a corner of his lips.

Pepper cautiously smiled back at him and faced the monitor. "What are we looking at here?"

With his free hand, Bruce pointed to the center of the screen. "I'm not an OB-GYN," he warned. "But from what I could determine, the gestational sac is measuring at approximately five weeks."

Pepper blinked as she did the quick calculation and her mind raced through the late night and sometimes in-between-meeting trysts she and Tony had in the past month or so. "_What_?" Her words escaped her lips in a gasp. "How can that be?"

Tony scooted his stool to the bedside and intently watched the monitor. "It's measuring at five weeks in size and development, but based on the time elapsed, you conceived only eleven days ago. Maybe twelve."

"Eleven days ago?" she repeated. "What were we doing— oh." She faced Tony, eyes wide. "Oh, yes, I seem to remember. Vaguely."

A week-and-a-half ago they had broken into one of Tony's fanciest and rarest bottles of whiskeys in celebration of their shared accomplishments: her recuperation from the Extremis reversal and the removal and recovery of his chest arc reactor. They had their eye on that bottle for a while and wanted to wait until incisions were healed and minds were ready to have their livers and memories obliterated for a night.

"But that doesn't make sense," she argued, as if that would take away the reality there was a cluster of her and Tony's DNA reticulating inside of her. "I'm on birth control." She stared back at the monitor, watching the yolky blob shuddering and pulsing.

"That's what we've been trying to figure out these past few hours," Bruce said. He took a clean cloth and wiped the goop from her skin and politely pulled the blanket back up. "But between the two of us and Jarvis, we may have come to a probable hypothesis."

"And that would be-?"

"Me. And you," Tony said.

"Well, I mean, who else would it be?" she said, with a raised eyebrow. "I've only had sex with you in.. well, you're the only person in a very, _very _long time."

Tony didn't try to hide his amusement this time and was pleased to know that there hadn't been a parade of lovers before him as he would have suspected. "Yeah, well it's mutual," he agreed, though his time frame was considerably shorter, but still long enough for the former playboy.

"What Tony means, is that.. you're both _different_," Bruce said.

"But I'm fixed," she said, her eyes darting back and forth between the two men. "Tony, you said it yourself, you reversed the Extremis. Look, I'm not glowing, even though I'm extremely emotionally and physiologically compromised!" She held out her hands to prove it. She was, indeed, not emerging into a literal fire bomb.

"Yeah," Tony said, raking his fingers through his hair. "Yeah, mostly."

Her eyes narrowed. "What do you mean _mostly_?"

"Recalibrating already modified genes is risky," Bruce said. "We reversed as much of Killian's work as we could, but there are still parts of the human genome that we can't alter safely; we just don't know enough about them. They're what we used to refer to as junk DNA, but they're hardly that. There's some significance to them. The remnants of Extremis Tony was unable to remove are attached to these areas." He manipulated a schematic that Jarvis projected in the air above their heads, to showcase some strands and swirls and other things that were making an already dizzy Pepper dizzier.

"They're largely unaffected by Extremis and you're in no means going to deregulate and explode," Bruce continued. "But there are still artifacts of a genetically engineered virus present in your system. Lysogenic viruses stay in your system once you're infected. Like chickenpox, but on steroids."

"What does that mean?" she asked. "I mean, how am I permanently affected? What else should I expect?" Her mind wandered into dark places.

Bruce gave a half-shrug. "We don't know it all, yet. It's still too soon to know all of the effects. But from what we can tell already, your body's ability to heal has increased—"

"You weren't complaining about horrible cramps," Tony pointed out.

Pepper nodded, slowly.

"And you haven't worn your glasses, at all."

She reached up to her face to confirm that she wasn't wearing them.

"You sleep less," he went on.

"Okay, okay, I get it," she grumbled.

"It also means that your birth control was like rendered ineffective," Bruce gently said. "It may perceive hormonal fluctuations as a threat, then tries to get your body back to stasis."

"What about Tony?" she asked. "You said it was both of us."

Bruce and Tony exchanged glances.

Tony cleared his throat. "It was this," he said, tapping the void in his chest where the RT once resided. "And.. and that." He pointed dismissably toward the sky.

"The Battle," Pepper whispered.

Bruce smiled a tight, grim smile. "Tony was exposed to two events that compromised his DNA. The travel through the portal and the subsequent exposure to a nuclear missile probably didn't help. But what was more damning was the long-term palladium poisoning he experienced. It may have resulted in the arc reactor releasing electron neutrinos, which created rhodium – a fission byproduct. It's basically like used nuclear fuel."

"Radiation," she breathed.

"Yes. In small amounts, it's not always not terrible," Bruce agreed. "Like the amount of radiation you get when you fly or eat too many bananas."

Tony waggled his eyebrows, suggestively.

"But it was persistent in his system for quite some time. There may have been irreversible damage to his DNA, as well. All of these factors may be contributing to what's happened."

"How do we explain the-the… its development?" Pepper wasn't even sure how to address _it _yet.

"Tony's blood is Rh positive and yours is negative. The, ah, fetus is positive."

"That sounds familiar," Pepper said. "I had a cousin who had that issue. She just ended up getting some injections or whatever, then was fine."

"Yes, well, the problem is with the Extremis remnants and Tony's affected DNA. The Rh factor is actually doing the opposite – it's protecting the fetus against your body, which is aggressively trying to attack it. It's why you're feeling so sick. Your body is embattled."

"But that still doesn't explain how I've not even two weeks pregnant and it's measuring at five weeks. This is ridiculous!"

Bruce opened his hands in deference. "Pepper, we're on a team of superheroes that includes a god with a magic hammer and lil' old me who turns green and angry while somehow miraculously not tearing my pants off. We recently defeated an alien invasion that teleported through space to get to our planet. If anything, this is the least ridiculous thing we've heard in a while."

Pepper sighed. "I guess this isn't too outlandish, then."

"_It's likely the exposure to the Extremis virus_," Jarvis helpfully offered. "_It is accelerating the development of the fetus_."

Pepper's eyes widened. "Accelerating?! What do you mean by that? Is this thing going to burst out of my chest a la _Alien_?!"

Bruce fiddled with his glasses. "We're not really sure what's going to happen." He exchanged a very concerned look with Tony who was still statuesque and tight-lipped.

Pepper's heart lurched in her throat and her anxiety shot up. If everything was fine, they would have told her, but they didn't, and it wasn't fine. A sudden sharp pain struck deep in her belly that it stole her breath. She fell back onto the bed, grimacing in agony, clutching her sides. A hacking scream choked out of her throat, and it was inhuman.

"Pepper!" Tony yelled. He grabbed her arm, helpless, as she writhed and cried.

"Breathe through it!" Bruce instructed. "It'll pass, it'll pass!"

The pain was crippling, worse than anything she had ever physically felt. Pepper begged, "Get this out of me! Take this out!" Another lightning bolt struck through her and her body shook uncontrollably.

"Breathe!" Bruce's voice, calm and steady, broke into her head again. "Breathe through it, it'll pass. Calm yourself. It'll go away."

Bruce and Tony soothed her, stroking her hair and her hands, walking her through her breaths. She whimpered as the pain began to subside, the wave of agony retreating until it was only lapping at her in a dull ache.

"I'm sorry," she whispered to Tony, only then realizing how tightly she was gripping his hand. She relaxed a bit. She wrestled with the reality that, despite its seemingly abnormal nature, it was _their_ mingled genetic material menacing her womb. It was still their child. She had always wanted kids with Tony, but not necessarily like _this_. It terrified her.

Bruce cleared his throat. "I wouldn't recommend it anyway," he said, softly. "Removing it would have more adverse effects."

"So, I die now if you take it out or I die in a gruesome and all-too-soon childbirth," she said, dully.

"I'm not going to let you die," Tony said, kissing her forehead. "We'll fix this."

Pepper flattened her hands on her belly. It was warm and sore and she was certain it was a little swollen. She found it hard to believe that there was something living and growing under there. "You better," she said. "I don't think you could handle being a single father."

"Don't joke like that," he said sternly. His eyes were wet. "Everything will be fine."

She leaned into him, relaxing into his embrace. It was not like Tony Stark to come close to crying. As he held her tightly and buried his face in her hair, she felt his body tremble. The moment a hot tear dripped onto her head, she knew they were treading into terrifying, uncharted territory.


	3. Chapter 3

Tony peeked through the crack of the door, watching for the rise of her chest before he felt safe to close it. His bare feet padded on the tile and he found Bruce in the kitchen, idly sipping at a bottle of beer.

"She asleep?" Bruce asked.

Tony nodded. "It's safe, right?" He was referring to the mild sedative Pepper accepted in order to calm her anxiety and get some proper sleep.

"Absolutely," Bruce reassured him. "Given her accelerated healing, it'll wear off sooner than normal but it's totally safe for uh, pregnant women."

"Pregnant," Tony echoed. "I'm still in disbelief."

Bruce smiled. "Guess you gotta talk to Clint and get some parenting advice."

"I_ have access to a near limitless database of parenting resources_," Jarvis said, almost indignant.

Tony rolled his eyes and grabbed himself a beer. He sat on a stool next to Bruce and chugged half of the bottle. Idly, he scratched at his chest, rubbing at the tender skin.

"Still itches?"

Tony shrugged. "Just feels like something's missing."

"Well, something will soon fill that void," Bruce said, kindly.

"Yeah, if it doesn't kill the woman I love," Tony retorted, sourly.

"Tony, it's a near miracle that Pepper was able to even conceive in the first place," Bruce said. "Between the two of you and all you've been through… well, let's just say you have some very strong and determined swimmers."

"Well, let's hope the kid comes out with her brains and not mine," Tony muttered.

"Tony, we'll get through this." Bruce patted his friend on the back. "You have the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. to—"

"No!" Tony yelled. The tone of his voice startled both of them. "No," he repeated, quietly. "We aren't saying anything. _Anything,_ do you hear me?"

Bruce hesitated, then took another swig of his beer. "Sure, Tony."

"I'm serious." Tony grabbed Bruce by the shoulders. "Bruce, no one can know. Remember what they tried to do to you? I'm not going to let them weaponize my child."

Bruce was genuinely taken aback. "Tony, you serious? You think Nick would let that happen?"

"S.H.I.E.L.D. hired Thaddeus, didn't they?"

Bruce frowned at the memories of his ex-girlfriend's father and nodded in a conciliatory way.

"Look, I trust there are good people in the organization and I know the Avengers won't hurt us but—" Tony shook his head. "I've learned that you need to keep people at an arm's distance away. The fewer that know the truth, the less likely that harm will come to Pepper. We can't risk it getting out there. I don't want my—our—child to become some twisted science experiment."

Bruce hadn't considered that. He bobbed his head in agreement. "Your secret's safe with me, Tony."

"Good. Only you, me, and Pepper know, and I want to keep it that way."

"_And me, sir_," Jarvis chirped.

"Don't go posting on Facebook the news that you're going to be an uncle, Jarvis," Tony said.

"How are you going to hide it?" Bruce said. "You won't be able to get away with it for long. This baby isn't going to take its time cooking. We're talking just a few months, here."

Tony nipped at his drink, thoughtfully. "I have a place Upstate," he finally said. "In Austerlitz. A nice, secluded manor away from all of this. Lots of land, lots of fencing. And I'll still be close enough to the Tower in case I'm needed."

"What are you going to tell Nick?"

Tony's eyes darkened. "I don't answer to Fury."

"Okay, well what are you going to tell the others?" Bruce prodded, referring to their team.

"I don't know yet," Tony said. "What's important is getting Pepper somewhere safe and far away from prying eyes. I'll figure the rest of it out while I go."

"You're going to need a doctor," Bruce advised. "Far out in the country, this time of year? You can't risk not being close to medical care. You'll need to get someone who can sign a non-disclosure and who's familiar with unusual circumstances like this. A good professional whom you can keep on retainer." He had a pondering look on his face. "There's not a lot of people you could entrust with this, but I'm sure we can find someone."

"I already did." Tony stared at Bruce like he was a moron.

It took a good five seconds before it dawned on him. "Oh, no. No, no, no, no, Tony. I'm – I'm not an OB-GYN, I already told you, I'm not qualif—"

"Who else?!" Tony exclaimed, excitedly. "Who else in the world would be more qualified? You're irradiated yourself, so that already propels you to the top of the list. You're a freakin' genius, well, maybe not as much of a genius as I am, but close, very close, and besides, your specialties are way more suited to dealing with this." He jumped off of his bar stool and got to his knees, hugging his arms around Bruce's shins. "Look at me. I'm begging. I'm on my knees, Banner."

"Ah—ahh—" Tony tried to figure out the best way to extricate himself out of the increasingly awkward situation.

"I'm not letting go," Tony threatened. "I won't let go until you promise."

"_Mr. Stark is known for his tenacity in order to get what he wants_," Jarvis reminded Bruce.

"Ah, fine, Tony, Jesus just—get off!" Bruce exclaimed, shaking his one leg that Tony still clung to.

"Perfect!" Tony smiled, jumping back up to his feet. "Now, about that—"

"_Tony_?" Pepper's tiny voice came from the hallway.

Both men froze in their tracks and looked at Pepper. She leaned against the wall for support, one arm wrapped around herself. A red stain flowered in the thighs of her pajama shorts.

"I think something's wrong."


End file.
